DAZED soccer giant John McNamee gazes around the remains of his flood-hit North home and sighs: “At least my miniature version of the Fairs Cup is safe”.

The St James’ Park legend was one of the hundreds caught up in the Cumbrian floods disaster which left a multi-million pound trail of devastation and cost police officer Bill Barker his life.

It will be at least six months before the Newcastle United 60s favourite is able to move back into his town-centre home in Cockermouth.

But last night the tough-tackling centre half spoke for the first time about his ordeal and vowed that like the town, he would bounce back from the misery. John, who was part of the famous team who brought the Fairs Cup to Tyneside in 1969, has lived in Cockermouth since retiring from football.

Back at his home in Gote Road, where the water reached almost 2m up the walls, John relived the flood hell.

The sprightly 68-year-old, said: “It’s like a bomb site, it’s total devastation. Everything on the ground floor is ruined. Some of my personal photos were destroyed but others were upstairs and are saved.

“The small version of the Fairs Cup we were given when we won is safe, along with my Scottish Cup winners medals.”

Scottish-born John was a key player in the 1969 United side, managed by the late Joe Harvey, which won the Fairs Cup in the second leg of the final against Ujpest Dozsa in Hungary.

And in May he was back at St James’ Park when he attended The Boys of ’69 – The Home Coming, a benefit dinner organised to thank the veteran team for their success 40 years ago.

The original team returned to their home ground to celebrate the occasion and John held the Fairs Cup aloft for the second time when it was brought from Barcelona to take pride of place at the benefit dinner for the old boy players.

“I was helping others put sandbags at the doors when the water just went straight past me and into my house.

“It was unbelievable how quickly it rose,“ said John, who also played for Blackburn Rovers, Hartlepool United, Lancaster City, and Workington. “Within two to three hours the water was 3ft high and then it just got higher and higher until it was about 6ft.

“Some of the houses in the town had water up to the ceilings. You couldn’t believe what you were watching. Some of the neighbours were rescued by helicopter and the RNLI boats. It was terrible.”

A huge clean-up operation is now taking place after the floods on Thursday last week.

It left main roads in Cumbria blocked, schools closed, and hundreds of people had to flee their homes and take shelter overnight in emergency evacuation centres.

The Environment Agency said hundreds of properties were flooded, with Cockermouth and Keswick worst affected.

RAF helicopters airlifted at least 50 people from buildings in Cockermouth, some were John’s neighbours.

Dozens of others were helped to safety by the RNLI, the coastguard, police, fire and rescue and mountain rescue teams. The Army also provided support for rescue services tackling the worst floods seen in the North since Morpeth in Northumberland was hit last year.

Widower John, who used to work for the Post Office in Cockermouth, added: “When I went back to the house on Monday I tried to open the door but the furniture was stacked against it.

“We had to bash the door through to get inside. The water had caused everything to flow towards the door as the water receded.

“There was sludge and everything was ruined. However, the one good thing that has come out of this is that we have all pulled together and are helping each other. It makes you realise what a good and caring community we live in.

“People are helping everyone else, some are getting shopping so we can still carry on.

“The two bridges to the town are out of action, one has collapsed and the other is closed. We are having to do a 30-mile detour because of this.

“I am staying with a friend who has a spare bedroom. She was in an upstairs flat and was OK. No one thought this would happen.”

Friend Bill Gibbs, who along with two dozen others set up the Fairs Club to remember the last occasion the Magpies brought home a trophy, has already given moral support to John.

Bill, 59, of Wallsend, said: “I rang John after the floods and he is devastated. He was helping others with sandbags when he turned around and saw water going into his own house. He raced over and started to get things upstairs.

“The downstairs was under about six or seven feet of water. He can’t go back there and is staying with a friend in Cockermouth.

“He says he’ll be there for months because work will now have to take place to get his house sorted.

“His belongings on the ground floor were ruined but I understand his miniature Fairs Cup that he was given in 1969 and his Scottish Cup winners medals are safe.”

Charles praises Cumbrian spirit

THE PRINCE of Wales yesterday delivered a personal thank you to emergency services for their work in the flood-ravaged town of Cockermouth.

Charles, pictured above, met members of the mountain rescue service, police, fire rescue service, the ambulance service, the RNLI, the RAF and the RSPCA at the town’s mountain rescue centre.

He spoke of his pride at the resilience and character displayed by the people of Cockermouth and the assisting emergency services.

He said: “I have always been a large admirer of the Cumbrian spirit. What has been so incredible is people’s resilience to the horrors. Everywhere I have been I have heard praise for the emergency services.”

Red Cross chief praise for army of North volunteers

THE chief executive of the British Red Cross has paid tribute to staff and volunteers who have been working round the clock to help flood victims.

Sir Nick Young visited the organisation’s Command and Control Centre, based in Newcastle, to see how dedicated workers are helping the people of Cumbria to rebuild their lives.

His visit came as the British Geological Survey released an aerial photo taken last week, at the height of the floods, revealing the full extent of the devastation wreaked in Cockermouth, and the mammoth task which lies ahead for homeowners and businesses.

Along with three flood support centres in Cockermouth, Keswick and Ulverston, the Newcastle Red Cross centre is responsible for deploying Red Cross ambulances and coordinated the swift water boat response, as well as sending volunteers to man the rest centre at Cockermouth School.

Sir Nick said: “The Command and Control Centre has been operating day and night since the floods last week and our staff and volunteers have worked relentlessly to do as much as they can to help people who have been affected by these devastating floods. I’m incredibly proud of them.

“We know from experiences in Morpeth last year and from widespread flooding in 2007 that rescuing people from their flooded homes, supporting them in rest centres and waiting for the waters to subside is just the start of what can be a very long recovery process.”

It’s business as usual for tourism

TOURISM bosses in Cumbria are reassuring thousands of visitors that Christmas is far from cancelled in the county, despite the devastation caused by the floods.

The festive season is one of the busiest periods in the county’s annual tourism calendar, with Christmas and New Year particularly important to businesses, but the flooding last weekend has caused confusion among tourists over which places are unaffected.

Cumbria Tourism has now installed a series of special visitor helplines at its headquarters in Staveley to give visitors up-to-the-minute advice and reassurance and to let them know there are hundreds of businesses open and waiting to welcome them as normal.

The telephone line – 01539 825070 – is directly in touch with hotels, B&Bs, cottage companies and guest-houses, visitor attractions, and the industry.

Ian Stephens, chief executive of Cumbria Tourism, said: “There is no doubt that thousands of visitors could now be wondering whether to visit. The message from Cumbria is a thousand times “yes.”

“What will cause more damage than the weather now are knee-jerk cancellations because of what people have seen or read.

“People must remember that this is England’s third biggest county.

“Only a very small area has been disrupted on the scale they have seen and heard about.”

Meanwhile, Army engineers started work yesterday on building a footbridge which will reunite a flood-hit community.

Householders in the Northside area of Workington have been cut off from the town’s south side after floods smashed and damaged bridges.

They currently face long detours to be able to get to the town centre or local schools and supermarkets.

While their colleagues ready the ground beside the River Derwent, soldiers of 3 Armoured Engineer Squadron (part of Tidworth-based 22 Engineer Regiment) began to put together sections of the temporary bridge at Halton military training camp, near Lancaster.

The 110-ton, 167ft (51m) bridge will soon be transported to Cumbria by troops from the Royal Logistic Corps. Army engineers will then begin to install the bridge on site.

It is hoped the footbridge, positioned upstream of the condemned Calva Bridge, will be open to the public by December 5.